Saturday, October 27, 2007

Friday, October 26, 2007

Look! I'm being exploited in death!

Ugh. The Chronicle has really got to stop with THIS kind of bullshit. If they do not want to write either critical articles or local fluff pieces at least refrain from parading shit as shinola. In a Borders bookstore no less- the show is also concurrently at a store in Westfield, NJ and a mall in Palo Alto, CA.

Contact Mat Wolff (mwolff@lawndaleartcenter.org) or Dennis Nance (dnance@lawndaleartcenter.org) if you're interested. It's a great way to attend if you're too poor to buy a ticket. And, heck, you're supporting one of Houston's most awesome art establishments!

Nice article from the Chron HERE about John Runnels' public art in downtown, stretching from Sabine Street to San Jacinto. Bizarro ending though...

"The overlook is a great place to get a unique snapshot of today's city with turtles and waterfowl swimming below, humans sleeping under the overpass, the county jail looming across the water and the traffic on San Jacinto roaring past."

HoustonCenter for Photography (1441 Alabama) has been active and upbeat lately; they had a rare mention in Artforum in an ad associated with their Anne Senstad’s Light Always Writes in Plural. This November Michele Grinstead and Nancy O´Connor hit hard at Texas’ role in national politics with their installation Immigrant Memorial Site, composed of photographs and video capturing a truck stop in Victoria, Texas where 19 illegal immigrants asphyxiated while trapped in the back of a truck bound for Houston. The other half of the show doesn’t keep up with the vibe though, as Carlos and Jason Sanchez deliver photoshop-happy compositions lacking just enough space to be not considered accidentally bad. Delivered in oversize gigantic format the images reference back to advertising language- from whence they came.

Anyone out there like porn? Well I guess I should rephrase that, anyone out there like gay porn? Well y’all can get your fill of the enigmatic Tom of Finland (he really was from Finland) and his scandalous subject at Inman Gallery (3901 Main) any day of the week. One part Disney, two parts sadistic sodomy, the place for his work- in the gallery or in the porn store- has never solidified. From softcore submitted to magazines to Nazis fucking, you should be guaranteed to get a rise in an art gallery for once.

"Chan-Hyo Bae's work reflects his feelings as an Asian immigrant in the West. Lydia Panas examines her family and community. Alessandra Sanguinetti profiles the relationship of two young children as they grow into adulthood. Diego Ranea takes an unconventional and abstract view of landscapes. Kelly Flynn's look at sexual iconography and gender roles is serious and funny. Przemyslaw Pokrycki documents rituals from birth to death. John Chervinsky's scientific schemata reflect his career as an engineer. Roberto Fernández Ibáñez addresses nature and the seasons through the pairing of haiku and equally poetic photographs. Jesús Jiménez brings a sense of play to the camera. All of these artists show serious attention to their subjects and a decidedly contemporary aesthetic."

Calling an exhibit that is filled with the images and demeanor of death Birthday is more than a little ironic. Check out the Moody Gallery exhibit HERE- but it is missing the best piece, a 15 foot drawing of a funeral service with pews filled with everyone the artist knows. Gael Stack, Aaron Parazette and Rachel Hecker are easy to spot.

As museums fill in the gaps in abstract expressionism's history we have gotten shows in town proclaiming the ascendancy of minor or forgotten painters. Terry Gilliam sauntered his way through town last spring (the rumor is more people came to the museum and shot straight downstairs for Robert Pruitt's solo exhibit) and now we will be graced by Mary Heilmann and her "deceptively simple, even offhand, approach to painting". What do you think of her paintings? Are they worth the attention? HERE is an article from 1993.

GRAFFITI, 1998

Joaquin's Close Out, 2006

All Night Movie, 1991

Sunday Morning, 1987

21st Century Fox, 1998

Heilmann's work was last in town for the POPulence show at the Blaffer Gallery. Her All Tomorrow's Parties exhibit (HERE) in Vienna is a good approximation of what the CAMH show might look like.

Fort Wayne, Indiana native Bruce Nauman got to Cali as fast as he could. Within two years of completing a master's he had signed with dealer Leo Castelli and it was all a downhill slope to canonization from there. Listed in 2008 as the #1 living artist by artfacts.net, Nauman beat out Rauschenberg and Gerhard Richter for the arbitrary crown presented by a website. His most famous quote? Taken from the 60s neon sculpture Window or Wall Sign:

"The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths."

A Rose Has No Teeth: Bruce Nauman in the 1960sMenil CollectionOpens Wednesday, October 24, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Join the Menil for better than average wine and Lynn Wyatt's company this Wednesday for a chance to consider why this thinly veiled symbolist gained acclaim riding the wave of a dealer who shaped our postmodern artworld.

Vito Acconci, John Baldessari, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, and William Wegman 60s videos on the lawn; free screening in the Menil Park on Saturday, October 27, 8 pm.